Starting down the conception path...

[poetgirl]

I'm going to be 36 this year and decided it was time to try for a baby. I went off birth control pills a month ago, which made me pretty nervous, since the continuous regimen I was on helped my bladder and VV so much the past few years. So far, so good with that, except for a mild increase in urethral burning. Hopefully it will not get any worse.

Of course like any prospective mother, I was disappointed when I got my period yesterday, since I had heard that women tend to be more fertile right after coming off the pill...not to mention that I got it at a campground, with no supplies...I had no idea when it would arrive and I have to admit that after 3 years of not really having to deal with that very much, I didn't think to be prepared. It explains why I felt so low energy the day before. I had forgotten about how bad my menstrual cramps can get! :headbang: Even today I can still feel it. Ugh. I don't like to take any meds if I don't have to, but I was popping Aleve (the only thing that works at all on my cramps) like they were candy. If I didn't want to get pregnant, I would not endure this ever again, that's for sure. :dizzy: I managed to hold it together to do some sightseeing and the looooong drive home, but it took a lot out of me.

Anyway, this is the beginning of my journey and I hope it will end with a beautiful child for me and my partner (who is an awesome dad already!) Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer or two, please! I've waited a long time for my life to get to where this would be a possibility. I just have to wait, hope and see.

[ICNJess]

Good luck!!!!! My advice would be to chart your temps, and sleep now while you still can! :) If you want to talk about conception or pregnancy, drop me a line...it is all so very fresh in my mind yet since it wasn't so long ago! :)

[jen75]

Poet Girl,

I went through a similar experience a little over a year ago. I wanted a baby so badly and had reached an age that I felt it was now or never...My OB was hopeful that I would go into remission. I wasn't as optimistic because my IC symptoms had essentially started during my first pregnancy ten and a half years ago. This for me also meant giving up medication and interstim- which I have a love hate relationship with and is another story all together. I ended up starting elavil again around my fourth month with the encouragement of a fetal medicine specialist. While I wouldn't say I ever went into remission, the pregnancy itself was tolerable. Around the middle of the last month I did have some IC flares and again with some encouragement took some pain meds. The whole experience was easier for me than I thought it would be. The result Natalie Grace born 4/5/6!!!

Wishing you all the best!:D Good Luck!!!!

[poetgirl]

Thanks Jess and Jen for the advice and encouragement! :) I'll definitely be leaning on you both for help when I need it.

Fortunately, my IC/VV have pretty much been in remission so this was a good time for me, healthwise, to decide to conceive. I just hope it doesn't take forever because of our ages - both men and women are less fertile after the age of 35.

WebMD has an ovulation calendar that charts your most fertile days, based on the length of your cycle. That helps take a little bit of the mystery out of the process, although I guess it's time to buy a thermometer too! LOL!

[ICNJess]

WebMD has this amazing pregnancy calender, too...when you get that far...where you enter in all your stats and it breaks it down day by day and tells you all this interesting information about your body and baby. It's really cool. :::Sigh:::

I know this will be a bit difficult with VV, but keep a watch out on your cervical changes. OHH and a must read is Taking Charge Of Your Fertility.

I had a short luteal phase as well as an irregular ovulation (some months I did, some I didn't) and also a tilted cervix and uterus LOL! I was a walking mess!

[holles]

the only problem with taking your temp is you won't know you ovulated until AFTER ovulation. it wouldn't hurt to try ovulation predictor kits if you aren't successful after a couple more months. with the opk, you start testing about day 9 or 10 and test until the test line is as dark as or darker than the control line (a light line doesn't mean anything). when the test is +, then you should ovulate 12-36 hours later. also if you have an average 26-28 day cycle, you should start intercourse every other day from days 9-19. my ob/gyn calls it carpet-bombing. ;)

good luck. try a few months on your own, then try the opks if nothing happens.

[ICNJess]

I liked charting my temps because it identified that I had a problem with ovulation and my luteal phase. After a couple of cycles (the OPK's never worked for me because my ovulation was not a day 14 like "the standard") I was able to detect when I was about to ovulate, through the temps and the changes in cervical mucus.

[dipietrom]

My husband and I are talking about having children. I desperatly want to have a baby, but I am so nervous that I will either not be able to, or that it will make my IC so bad that I wont be able to go full term. We havent been "trying" but we havent been safe either, and I havent gotten pregnant. I discussed with my mom that she would carry the baby for me, but Im still really worried about hormones and things. any advice? did anyone's IC or VV get worse with pregnancy?

[July]

We are also starting down the conception path! Would sure love to have a little one by next summer. Any advice on what to do in the pre-pregnancy period to be the healthiest to support a baby?

I trust that when the time is right for us to care for a little one, God will bless us with one.:)

[ICNJess]

July,

For pre-pregnancy, I would start prenatal vitamins. Also, eating foods rich in folic acid (such as greens like spinach) are great, too. Other than that, just eat healthy and stay fit, and have fun! :) I know the folic acid might be difficult, but the doctors recommend when you start trying.

Meghan,

My V.V. went into remission! My IC, however, was pretty difficult...but soooo worth it. At first my IC was okay, but as my daughter grew and pressed on my bladder, I was leaking urine all the time. I had to wear bladder depends PLUS an abdominal support sling. My daughter was breech and had one foot on my bladder and kicked like crazy. If I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat.

Don't stress about your IC and pregnancy...I know it is definitely a worry, but trust me, it's only temporary. I went completely natural during my pregnancy without my Dilaudid pain medication or any other IC meds, and no heating pad. If I can do it, I know any of you girls can!

Good luck, I hope we see more Mommy-To-Be's around here!! :)

[poetgirl]

Thanks for all the great advice, Jess! :) I know we'll all be leaning on you more as time goes on. Meanwhile, I'm trying...and waiting...and trying... At my age, these things take a little bit longer, even with the ovulation charting, etc.

Keep your fingers crossed!

[ICNJess]

I hear ya!!! I went off of b.c. in 2004 (IC was really buggin' me) and my husband and I had the attitude of "if it happens, it happens". I was thinking, we're both young, the women in my family are sooooo fertile it's ridiculous, it'll happen...

And I waited, waited, waited...finally I saw my gyn. She said to try the OPK's. I did, and I never got a positive!!! So then she suggested charting. That worked well. I found out about my luteal phase and ovulation pattern and 5 months into charting I was pregnant!

The biggest thing that helped me were the secondary signs, like cervical mucus. I didn't rely on the temperatures nearly as much as I did the C.M. This can also determine if you have a hormonal imbalance that could complicate acheiving pregnancy.

Ok I'm done preaching now!!! :) Good luck!!!

[shvlnose]

I'm 34 and my husband and I are also TTC. My cycles a very irregular (vary from 30-45 days), but I've never been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries or anything. I tried the standard OPK for a couple months and had a hard time telling sometimes when the "top line was the same or darker than the bottom line."

I finally bit the bullet and got one of the digital fertility monitors that tests both your LSH and estrogen. I'm in love with this machine!!!! It gives you at least 1 day warning BEFORE the day of ovulation (sometimes up to 5 day's depending on your individual response) and then notes clearly the day of ovulation and the day after. It shows 3 phases - low, high, and peak fertility. By also charting the basal body temp I was able to confirm that we totally nailed the timing this month:woohoo: :dance: I've got another week to wait to see if it worked, but that's another issue.

What I find really nice is that it should work even though my cycles are irregular. Also, if nothing happens after a few months with confirmed correct timing, I can take all of that data to the doctor to start looking for potential causes.

I was somewhat concerned with the cost of the monitor, but to me, it's already worth it!
Aly

[ICNJess]

Aly--I'm keeping my fingers crossed! That machine sounds AWESOME! I definitely enjoyed charting and spotting the signs of ovulation to that of the OPK's for the same reason, irregular cycles plus late ovulation and short luteal phase. Good luck this month!!!

[poetgirl]

Aly,

Thanks for the info on the digital fertility monitors. That sounds very helpful and I will consider one, depending on how long this process takes.

Good luck to you! I guess you'll know soon enough if it's calculating everything correctly! :)

[MamaZ]

Subbing...
I have one daughter (Isadora - will be 3 in September) and I went into remission while I was pregnant with her. I also felt fabulous post partum...all the way up until she was 13 months and I began ovulating again. For me, clearly there is a link between hormones/digestion/IC/UTIs because as soon as my cycles returned my health deteriorated to where it was before I got pregnant.
I got pregnant again in December of last year and wound up having a terrible miscarriage in February/March. Since then, my symptoms went from bad to worse - almost constant urgency/frequency, urethral pain, etc. I've also had two UTIs (from sex, natch:rolleyes:)
So, we really REALLY want to get pregnant again...not just because we are ready for another child, but also because I am hopeful I'll have a repeat of my last pregnancy when I felt fabulous.

My issue is how to have sex without getting a UTI. I am a crunchy, natural kind of woman and use herbs/supplements but I'm going to bite the bullet and use peridium in hopes of being able to conceive without pain.

I'm a huge fan of charting. Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a great book, but one geared more towards holistic health and fertility is called The Garden of Fertility (http://www.gardenoffertility.com/).

I've heard pros and cons about using fertility monitors. Some friends have had success with them while others have gotten false positives for ovulation.

Has anyone tried Pre-Seed (http://www.ingfertility.com/)? That seemed to work for us when we got pregnant this last go around. I'm an ultra-sensitive mama and this product did not irritate me whatsover.

Good luck everyone! Sending lots of baby dust your way.:)

[shvlnose]

OK, so my temperature has dropped and my period started, so no baby this month :( . On the up side, the period showed up 14 days after the monitor detected the "peak" ovulation time, so... I know the detector is working that far.

Also from charting the time/temperatur it appears that I probably do not have the short luteal phase issue (just one more thing to be happy that I don't have to worry about).

Just wanted to give an update - didn't happen for us this month. But, we'll be trying again in a few weeks.:bunny:

Good luck and well wishes to everyone else TTC!:hi:
Aly

[poetgirl]

I'm sorry it didn't work out for you this month, but it sounds like you're getting closer to figuring out the timeframe that will work!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.... :)

[SusieQ045]

i just wanted to say good luck on TTC. children are such a blessing.:angel:

[diane29]

I am just about at the end of months of steadily going off nine medications. I have Elmrion and Ditropan XL left, has anyone else stayed on these or gone off them..with or with out a good response? Any advice or insight is welcome!!

[Meemer]

Hi Poetgirl:

I too, am marching down the pregnancy trail, but I'm 41, so it's a little different. After a certain age, we are less likely to get pregnant, even without the complications of IC (painful sex, chronic infections, etc). Since I am over 40, I only have a 10% chance of conceiving. That's a lot of sex to have in order to get pregnant, even for a normal person! However, pregnancy is possible. After 35, the medical community considers women approaching over the hill, as our eggs are aging along with us.

I would recommend getting an appointment with your favorite Gyn to get all the tests done to determine your fertility health, including testing your estridiol, FSH & LH levels. Using an ovulation predictor (it does so thru urine) is a smart move. Patience is paramount. You are 36, not 46, so you have time. I don't believe that coming off the pill makes you "more fertile". It just makes you able to get pregnant.

Taking a prenatal vitamin can be a challenge for some since it contains some vitamins and minerals that can cause flares. I am taking folic acid and it hasn't cause any problems. I am also taking a really good calcium supplement. I have osteopenea (sp?) brought on by the steroids I use to control my IC. However, calcium supplementation is very important during pregnancy as well. During my trial and error period to find a supplement that didn't flare my IC, I found Pro-Caps Laboratories "Calcium-Magnesium-Phosphorus Intesive Care". The company was founded by Andrew Lessman and his supplement line is sold on HSN (Home Shopping Network).

Since I will be venturing into IVF territory to get pregnant, I'm sure I'll be posting more questions out here, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I only wish I were 36 again. I would only have to worry about artificial insemination, not IVF (I can't have sex at all, as it is way too painful). IVF will cost between $13-$16 thousand dollars and isn't covered by our insurance. However, artificial insemination is. That hurts my wallet like IC hurts my bladder!!!!!!>Meemer

[poetgirl]

Meemer,

Good luck with your IVF treatments. I'll be sending babydust your way! :angel:

As it turned out, it was no problem at all for me to conceive...I'm 8 weeks along today. I have my first ultrasound next week to see how things are going in there. I haven't had too much trouble with the prenatal vitamins, but had to stop taking the DHA supplements my doctor provided because it caused indigestion (will try another brand and see if it's better.) The only IC-related issue I've had to deal with is a slight increase in urethral burning, but it's not too bad when it happens.

Keep us updated as to how you're doing! :grouphug:

[hreese]

I am 36 and trying to conceive for the for the first time. I went to my gynecologist last Nov, right before our wedding. She prescribed Pre-Natal Vitamins and told me to take them for 3 months before trying. So I stayed on the birth control until Feb. In Dec, I started having symptoms of bladder issues, burning, pain, urgency, etc. and went to see my PC Dr., who tested me for UTI, which came up negative, so he sent me to a Urologist, who diagnosed overactive bladder and bladder spasms and prescribed Detrol. I took it and most of the symptoms went away, but I had horrible drying. So I tried Oxytrol, which didn't seem any less drying, so I went back to Detrol because the patch bothered my skin. By that time my husband and I were actively trying to conceive. I bought the book "Taking chare of Your Fertility" and started charting my temp. Problem with that, as I'm sure some of you have also, is having to get up and pee so much in the night, I'm not sure how accurate the temps are. So I started checking my cervical fluid. Problem with that is that the Detrol dries EVERYTHING out and I couldn't get enough cervical fluid to tell when I was at my peak. So I stopped taking the Detrol, figuring out that maybe I would create more cervical fluid if I wasn't on it and I would just deal from here on out. That has worked, but I continue to have problems with my bladder. I also purchased PreSeed, which I have been told is the best lubracant to use when trying to conceive. I don't seem to have any problems with it, but haven't really paid to close attention, since I only found you all a few days ago. Have any of you tried using PreSeed? It's $20/ for about 6 individual applicators, so it's kind of expensive, but is supposed to mimic cervical fluid. Now I am becoming more aware of the pains and feelings that I have been having as being more possibly assosciated with my bladder than just being me. I was afraid to go back to the Urologist because I didn't want to keep trying other meds and having issues with trying to conceive in the process. Things keep coming up that interfere with the peak time, like my stepkids being with us during the peak time, my cat biting me on my big toe the day before peak and getting that infected and having to take really strong anitbiotics last month. That threw my cycle off by over a week, so now I'm back at square one and really don't know. If you all chart your temp, do you do so regardless of 3 + hours of sleep? I usually sleep until about between 2am ~ 4am, then I have to get up at 6am, so I hadn't been taking my temp, if I wake up to pee closer than 3 hours to the time I get up. I am using the computer software, which doesn't record if your time is other than the set time to record. Also, I still have a hard time with determining my cervical fluid and if we have sex, I can't tell for a few days what is what. It is so frustrating. I am hoping that the urologist will be able to possibly prescribe Eneblex, which someone suggested is less drying, when I seem him on Tue. I guess I'm just getting frustrated with the whole thing. I wish I could hurry up and get pregnant. I feel like time is ticking away. My cousin got married a few months before I did and was pregnant when she came to our wedding. She had their son, just last month. How long should I wait before seeing my gynecologist about fertility? Sorry I meant to post in a ne wmessage not attached to another.

[poetgirl]

Hi Hreese,

Sorry I can't give you any advice about fertility charting, as I got pregnant pretty quickly. Either we're very fertile or we just got lucky. I do know how frustrating it can be to deal with frequent urination and dryness, though.

The only thing I can say from someone whose stepson lives with us most of the week -- have sex, even if it means barricading the bedroom door, and do it late enough at night where interruptions are going to be at a minimum! :lmao: If you have any idea at all of when you generally ovulate, try to have sex on or around those times.

I think they recommend seeing a fertility specialist when you've gone a year without conceiving. On average, it takes couples about 6 months to conceive, so I'm sure it will work out for you!